Excavating apparatus.



No. 779,043. PATENTED JAN. s, 1905. G. H. HULETT, BXGAVATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTA. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A Harney INVENTOR PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905.

G. H. HULETT. EXCAVATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTJ. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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A Harney No. 779,043. PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905. G. H. HULETT. EXCAVATINGAPPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. l. 1904,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

y WITNESS/F5 /NVE/VTOR 3M/MM y www Attorney PATENTED JAN. 3, l1905.

G. H. HULETT.

BXAVATING APPARATUS.

AYPLIOATION FILED SEPT.1. 904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

/VVE TOR UNITED STATES GEORGE H. HULETT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TOTHE WELL- Patented January 3, 1905.

IPATENT O'Fricn.

MAN-SEAVER-MORGAN COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

EXCAVATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,043, dated January3, 1905.

Application filed September l, 1904. Serial No. 223,006.

T0 all whom, it mfay concer-71,.-

Beit known that I, GEORGE H. HULETT, of Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Excavating Apparatus; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My inventionv relates to certain new and useful improvements inapparatus for excavating, removing, and depositing earth on a largescale-such, for instance, as the construction of canals-the object ofthe invention being to provide a system of cooperating apparatus allmounted on tracks extending lengthwise the cut or excavation and onroadways or berms at the side of the cut and adapted to make theexcavation, to remove the excavated material and deposit same at thesides of the cut or excavation in an even and uniform manner, the entireoperation being continuous and uninterrupted.

With this end in view my invention consists in the combination andarrangement of the s everal parts of the system, as will be more fullyexplained, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aview in end elevation of anexcavation, showing th'e apparatus therein. Fig. 2 is a similar Viewshowing the double-cantaliver endlessbelt conveyer mounted on a roadwayon top of the Spoil-band formed by the apparatus of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aplan View showing the apparatus of Figs. l and 2 in their respectivepositions in the ditch and on the spoil-bank. Fig. 4 is a view in endelevation of the excavating-machine and feeder, and Fig. 5 is a viewtents. This hopper 4 is of somewhat greater capacity than the shoveland, if desired, may serve two excavators working on opposite sides ofsame. This hopper 4 is mounted on a truck 5, traveling on a track 6,parallel with the excavator-track 2, so that it may be moved along withthe excavator, and is provided with inclined sides 7 and an open bottom,under the restricted opening of which the reciprocating plunger orfeeder 8 rests and moves. This plunger or feeder is mounted in suitableguiding-supports 9 and is reciprocated by the engine 10, with which itis connected bysuitable gearing, the engine being mounted on the car 5,carrying the hopper.

At each stroke of the plunger 8 the bottom of the hopper is opened, andthe spoil which passes therethrough is engaged by the plunger on itsreturn stroke and pushed onto the endless-apron conveyer 11, whichlatter is also carried by the car 5. This apron conveyer 11 is locatedin rear of the hopper 4 with its front end in a position to receive thespoil ejected from the hopper and is carried by the frame 12, supportednear its free rear end by the supports 13. This conveyer projectsupwardly and rearwardly, as shown, and terminates over a hopper 14,carried by the frame 15, which carries the transverse belt conveyer 16,so that as the spoil is discharged from the conveyer 11 it falls intohopper 14 and passes from thence onto the transverse conveyer, by whichit is carried over the side of the excavation and deposited.

By interposing the feeding device- 8 between the hopper 4 and the apronelevator or conveyer 11 the spoil, from fine dirt up to large pieces ofrock, will be delivered uniformly to the apron 11, thus preventing thepossibility of overloading the apron 11 or the belt conveyer 16, ontowhich the apron discharges. This apron 11 is actuated by the engine 10and gearing carried on the platform of the car 5; hence is in motion solong as the feeding device is in motion.

The transverse endless conveying-belt 16, which receives the spoil fromthe apron 11, is located in rear of 'the excavator 1 and apron 11 and atright angles thereto. This belt 16 is inclined upwardly to one side ofthe excavation or ditch and extends suiiiciently lIO far beyond the sidethereof to deposit the spoil at a point where it will not have to berehandled during the operation of shaping the sides of the ditch. Thisbelt 16 is supported throughout its length by the doublecantaliver tower17, which is mounted on a truck 18, which travels on a trackway 19,located at the side of the excavation, and discharges the spoil whichforms the first spoilbank. This belt conveyer 16 projects about equaldistances at both sides of its supporting-truck 18, with its outer endat a height sufficient to form the first spoil-bank without changing itsinclination.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated an excavation representing the half of acanal and on the No. 3, and LCut No. 4 and have also illusv trated asecond level, showing the steamshovel and apron therein. bank wouldprobably be formed from the excavators in cuts Nos. 1 and 2, while thespoil from cuts Nos. 3 and 4 is carried over spoilbank No. 1 to fo'r-m asecond spoil-bank No. 2. In forming this second spoil-bank two beltconveyers are employed, one of which (marked 16a) is pivotally supportedat its ends on trucks 20, one of which is mounted on a track 21, locatedin the ditch adjacent to and parallel with the trackway on which thehopper and apron elevator are carried, while the other truck is mountedon trackway 19, on which the cantaliver-tower 17, serving the excavatorin cut No. 1, is mounted. This conveyer 16a discharges into the hopper22 of the belt conveyer 16, carried by the cantal liver-tower 17,mounted on a truck which travels on the track 23 on the road-bed at thetop of spoil-bank No. 1.

With my apparatus I prefer to` mount the outer or discharging conveyer16 on the cantaliver-tower and the inner conveyers 16*l on pivotedtrucks.

With the apparatus arranged as described all the parts thereof can beadvanced as the work progresses and the excavated material removed fromthe ditch and deposited at the sides without any rehandling, theoperation being continuous so long as the steam-shovels are at work.Again, by employing hoppers and a feeder for each excavator there is nodanger whatever of overloading the aprons or belt conveyer, as would bethe case were the contents of the steam-shovels deposited intoopen-bottom hoppers or directly onto the aprons. By interposing thefeeders the material is uniformly distributed onto the apron and fromthe aprons to the belt conveyers. Hence overloading either of theseparts is absolutely prevented. Again, by mounting the trucks on tracksparallel to each other and to the cut all the parts of the The firstspoil-v apparatus may be advanced as the work progresses without anyinterference from one another and without interfering with one.

another while at work.

While I have shown a single transverse conveyer and also a transverseconveyer made up of two endless conveyers, it is evident that eachtransverse conveyer may be made up of more than two sections, so thatthe spoil may be removed any reasonable distance from the cut, and byarranging them as shown in Fig. S-that is to say, by providing thehopper and feeder in cut No. 1 with'a single transverse conveyer--thespoil discharged therefrom forms the roadway on which to mount thesupports of the next conveyer in order, and so on throughout the system.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in therelative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing fromthe spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I would have it understoodthat I do not wish to limit myself to the exact construction of partsshown and described; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a track laid longitudinally in the cut, asteam-shovel or other excavator mounted thereon, a second track parallelwith the first track, a truck carrying a hopper and feeder on saidsecond track, an

elevating-conveyer also carried by the truck carrying the hopper andfeeder, and an endless-belt conveyer receiving the spoil from theelevating-conveyer and located at right angles to the excavation andmounted to move in the direction of length of the latter.

2. The combination of a track laid longitudinally in a cut, asteam-shovel or other excavator mounted thereon, a second vtrackparallel with the first track, a truck carrying a hopper and feedermounted on said second track, an endless conveyer also mounted on thetruck carrying the hopper and feeder, a track on the berm or bankadjacent to the cut, and an endless conveyer carried thereby, andlocated in a position to receive the spoil as the latter is dischargedfrom the endless conveyer leading from the hopper.

3. The combination with a track laid longitudinally in a cut, asteam-shovel or other excavator thereon, a second track parallel withthe first track, a car carrying a hopper and a IOO IIO

elevating-conveyer also extending in the direction of the length of thetracks for receiving the material as it is fed from the hopper, of aplurality of endless-belt conveyers located transversely to the cut andmounted on tracks parallel to the track carrying the hopper and feeder,the iirst conveyer delivering the spoil to the next succeeding one, eachsystem of conveyers depositing the spoil to ,form the roadway on whichto mount the outer support of the next following couveyer. I

5. The combination with a car-mounted exf cavator, a car-mounted hopper,a feeder for the latter and an elevating-conveyer located in a positionto receive the spoil from the feeder, of a car-mounted cantaliver-towermounted on a truck running parallel with the excavator and carrying atransverse belt conveyer onto which the spoil is deposited from theelevating-conveyer.

ln testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE H. HULETT.

Witnesses J. F. THOMPSON, C. W. CoMsTooK.

